Double Exposure
by Zelinko
Summary: Sometimes a good scoop is right in front of you


With another day of hard work done, Hatate took to the skies once more, this time heading home. The tengu found the late day thermals and soared, with long flaps, she flew over the Scarlet Devil Mansion, hand half covering her camera just in case someone moved to pick a fight. With the Mansion becoming a distant spec on the horizon Hatate let out a sigh of relief, she had things to do.

"Why do all the stories seem to happen at the end of the month?" Hatate muttered to herself as pulled her phone out. She knew she had a long flight ahead so the reporter decided to spend trying to cut down on the amount of work she'd have to do.

Her fingers deftly danced across the keypad as she put down some notes, "'Aki Sisters Host Harvest Festival in Human Village', not the biggest headline but I guess it'll have to do." She said with a sigh before she started to cycle through the pictures she took, eyes locked upon the screen as she flew. "To think this is the best I got this month. Stories like this won't help at all for the competition!" Hatate said with as she grumbled. She had to do better this year, especially since last year she was passed by some new reporter who just started her own paper.

The reporter drew upon her Spirit Photography as Hatate brought up images that others took at the festival. She tried to see if they found anything else to write about or if they at least took some more interesting pictures to use. Photo after Photo flicked by as the tengu glossed over each image as they went past before she hit the end of the collection. It was one of her pictures showing the Harvest Goddess and her sister.

"Good enough," Hatate said with a sigh as she looked ahead towards the mountain, the image blurring as her focus shifted. Only for her to notice a blob of green and yellow, which stood out, compared to the usual dull colors of human outfits.

The reporter brought up another image trying to get a better picture of this oddly dressed person. "Wait, she's in a lot of them and not even the pictures I was taking!" Image after image had this girl in it before Hatate came to one of her pictures.

This mysterious girl was in plain sight and was most definitely not human, a pair of purple cables led to a floating orb, but why were the humans not reacting to her. Hatate shook her head, "This doesn't make sense why aren't the humans reacting." A flash of insight came to her, "Wait she's that satori from that incident with the Menreiki a few years ago!" The tengu remembered reporting on it and that time when she took pictures of that girl's Danmaku the time before that.

There was one problem. "Just who are you..." Hatate said as she closed her eyes, why couldn't she remember her name. She kept trying to remember but it kept slipping her mind. Whatever it was it was actually News! The headline started to form in her mind 'Underground Dwelling Youkai Visits Surface Party' Hatate's fingers swiftly moved to tap that into her phone.

The reporter's eyes went wide for a moment as a plan schemed in her head, sure, others just have photographs, but if Hatate had an interview, it'd be something that Shameimaru didn't even have! It'd be something that'd propel her up the Newspaper rankings!

But there was a bigger question now, how was she going to find and interview with this girl? She had a hunch that even if she couldn't see the satori girl but she had a hunch that her camera would work. But the first thing of course was to figure out where to meet.

If she had to guess, the satori was going to go back home after the festival and this was probably the fastest way back. Well at least the most direct one since she wouldn't have to go past that hashihime and through the city. And Hatate wasn't going to risk taking THAT route just for a possible story. Even if she got past the bridge, there was that city and the oni inside it. The last thing she wanted was to be pulled away from her target by one of them insisting she drink with them.

Her wings beat steadily as she flew low over the mountainside, camera out and her looking through the viewfinder. If she couldn't notice that girl with her eyes, maybe looking at the camera might cancel out whatever she was doing.

A snapshot here and there where she thought she saw a glimpse of something that seemed just a bit off. A picture with some fairies seemed to be a wasted image but there was a a smear of green and yellow in the background. That had to be that satori! She continued to fly and another snap of an image and there was that darkball running into a tree and that same splotch of yellow and green was there meaning Hatate was still on the trail.

A little faster and she might be able to get past that satori and finally be in a position to cut her off and get that interview she needed.

The glow grew brighter as she could see the mist of the geysers, as it grew thicker, which forced her to land. Hatate held her camera at eye level as she landed slowly turning as she tried to guess just where she'd be if she wanted to be sneaking up on someone.

The sound of bubbling water was all she could hear. "Where are you now..." Hatate said to herself as she quickly turned to the side, her geta grinding against stone, and snapped a picture. The sound of her phone taking a picture stood out against the relative silence surrounding her.

On the display was something very odd, it was a satori girl directly in front of her! Hatate peeked up over her phone to see that girl standing right there. Her wings flapped a few times as she jumped backwards in surprise! That girl had managed to get right in her face without Hatate even having the slightest idea she was there. She quickly tried to get her composure as she hit the ground.

"Hi hi! You were soo wanting to find me so you could do things right?" The satori said as she moved around Hatate to try to look at the picture, "Oh yea that looks familiar. Most of you crows use the blocky cameras though," the satori's hands moved to mimic the pose used to snap a picture.

She seemed to vanish for a moment before appearing in front of Hatate once more. "Still I wonder why you're looking for me. Is it to play a game? Or maybe for one of those boring interviews where you go on for a while until you get what you want and make up the rest." The girl shook her head, "If you're wanting something like that you're gonna have to earn it. Find me if you can!"

Hatate was about to interrupt the petite girl, but before could the gray haired girl turned and ran away, vanishing from sight. Was this all a game to that girl or was Hatate just going to spend the entire night chasing after shadows? The reporter followed off in the direction she last saw the satori going. "WAIT UP!" she called out as she moved to chase.

She couldn't fly because if she had Hatate might lose track of her target and she wouldn't know if she had overshot. Her camera was in hand, as she snapped picture after picture. The tengu kept running as she kept checking to see if she could see the colors of the satori in those images. She couldn't stop fully to focus on the images unless she wanted to lose track of that girl. Keep snapping, keep chasing. Something about this just had an odd thrill for Hatate on a level she couldn't fully understand.

The forest started to thin out as Hatate realized where she was. She had chased that satori all the way to the waterfalls! But why did the girl in yellow go there? Sure, she seemed to do things for no real understandable reason, but made about as much sense her wanting to play tag in the first place.

The reporter came to a stop as she took a few deep breaths and found that the green haired girl was actually visible. "Okay so I found you, now what," She said as she raised her camera and took a picture, thumb furiously moving to take note of what a caption could be.

"Well you followed me for a reason," the girl said as she adjusted her hat and rocked back on her heels slightly.

The tengu stood completely upright and quickly took out her notepad and brush, "Oh yes, I was wondering why you were at the festival in the human village and why exactly you were getting in everyone's pictures." She started quickly to write down the question and waited for the answer.

The gray haired girl put her finger to her chin as she thought about it, "That's easy! I was there because people where having fun and then I started to have fun because everyone else was having fun. And I wanted to get in the pictures because getting your picture taken is fun! Big sister gets the paper sometimes and if I were in the pictures, she'd know I was there and okay. It just makes sense."

Hatate brushed down that response and wondered if she was being messed with at this point.

She looked up from her pad only to see nothing, then the girl, then nothing again. It was as if she was flickering in and out of existence. Hatate tapped her foot anxiously, "Why do you keep blinking like that! I just don't get how you're doing that and it's really weird."

The glowing green eyes came close as Hatate found that she wasn't having her personal space respected. "I thought I told you last time! Or was it that other crow..." She looked down at Hatate's skirt and shoes, "Nope! It was definitely you."

The sound of a loud splash caught Hatate's attention as she unknowingly shifted her attention to whatever made that sound before looking towards where the mysterious girl was only to see nothing again. Her pointed ears twitched as she could hear a voice behind her. "But how do you keep doing that!" Hatate shouted as she turned around to look for the girl.

"Doing what?" the voice was behind the tengu again.

"Doing that invisibility thing!" Hatate said as she turned around to try to face this vanishing youkai again.

Again there was nothing there as Hatate heard the footsteps leading away once more, "Hey I'm not done yet!"

Just like was earlier Hatate was now chasing someone who was easily able to give her the slip. Hopefully she could catch that girl and actually get some answers this time!

* * *

To Run or Fly. What was she going to do. If she went into the air she might lose her prey in the trees, if she was on ground the girl might be able to outrun her. She gambled on going on foot as that satori hadn't really taken hard to the skies and considering how thick the forest was at times she couldn't fly in these confines.

Hatate's camera was up as she snapped another image. Each image she took had that green and yellow outfit in frame. Just where was she being lead now? Her heart raced as part of her just felt a thrill of the chase. She had to get closer, this was HER scoop after all and she wasn't going to let it just run away from her.

The sound of her geta echoed through the forest once more as she chased. She deftly avoided roots and other obstacles as she continued to snap images. She was getting so close, "Why are you running!?" She shouted out to seemingly no one. If that girl can become invisible, she should be still able to hear the reporter at least.

"Because it's fun!" echoed out the gray haired girl as she seemed to flicker into existence once more before vanishing just as swiftly.

The Tengu's teeth tightened as she pushed herself harder. Her shots were blurry and out of focus, but as long as she could just see those two colors, she knew she was closing in more and more. A tengu's speed is unmatched even on foot!

A kick off a tree and her wings flaring out to help her regain her balance as the reporter snapped another image. Was the satori girl was running backwards?! Hatate's eyes went wide in the darkness and she half stumbled. She wasn't chasing a girl on foot. That satori was mocking her by flying backwards! This was an insult that couldn't stand and Hatate continued her chase with more intensity.

The forest started to thin out and started to become rocky as the tengu saw the opening of a cave. Not just any cave, but the one she that she remembered dropped down to that abandoned hell. If that satori managed to get into that cave, it'd mean that Hatate couldn't chase anymore! Time was running out and she had to take desperate measures. The tengu's legs tensed as launched her forwards into a diving tackle, arms spread wide. She hoped to at least slam into the girl and knock her to the ground.

Hatate effectively hit what seemed to be thin air, as her arms snapped closed grabbing the satori. But to her surprise the tengu had found things hadn't gone the way she expected. Purple cordlike veins wrapped around her arms and waist to draw her to her prey in a most odd embrace.

Was this a trap?! She couldn't move as she was now face to face with the satori. Hatate squirmed and shifted around trying to free herself, but was firmly stuck in the grip of the girl in front of her. What happened next was strange, even for today.

"You caught me! I thought you'd neeeever do that! I mean I was even telling you where I was too!" the satori said, as her eyes seemed to light up.

The fact that this gray haired girl claimed that she let Hatate catch her was baffling and insulting. "That's nice?" the reporter said as she tried to free herself from the trap she was caught in. "I don't know how you were telling me anything with you vanishing all the time like that."

The hat-wearing girl put a finger to her chin, "Oh... I was doing that? I was trying really hard to make sure you noticed me too," a look of realization flashed across her face, "Oh you did! Your camera was seeing me, so you were seeing me!"

The more this satori spoke the less Hatate understood. She wished she grab her phone or at least her notepad, she couldn't let this chance get away. The reporter's arm was firmly wrapped as it seemed the more she tried to break free the tighter the veins grew. "What? How does that work? Why are you doing this to me?"

A giggle was the response to her questions, "Because I wanta keep you close and I was making sure you noticed me. But I wanted you to notice me but you only noticed me with your pictures."

This only added to Hatate's confusion as she tried to squirm enough at least to slip her camera out, but with how tightly she was bound, it was impossible.

"Let me go!" Hatate cried out as she only got herself more tied up by struggling.

But as suddenly as she was grabbed, the tengu found her dropped unceremoniously on the ground. "Wait I was holding you? You where holding me!" the satori said as she had one of the heart shaped tips of the tentacles touched her chin as she tapped her foot.

The reporter was back to her feet quickly as she looked at the floating orb that seemed to be staring at her even while closed shut. It took a bit of effort for her to not stare as she pulled her notebook and brush out again. "You were definitely holding me. And where were you leading me all this time?"

A long pause, "OH! I was! That makes sense now. Still I wanted to show you a good place to go and then I was going somewhere else. But I had to keep you around so I started to go home because you were bad at chasing then you grabbed me! That was actually pretty fun."

And this is when Hatate realized she really wasn't sure if this was really someone she could interview without people thinking she had gone mad. "What do you mean keep me around?" the tengu said as she bit her lip slightly.

"Well you were going to give me an interview like you did the last time we played around," Koishi said while she rocked back on her heels.

Hatate was confused at this as she realized they had met before and she had an interview with that satori girl. "We did? I uh... I should write it down this time."

The more she thought about it the more she realized that she knew this youkai but should couldn't remember why she didn't know this earlier, "Wait, this is just like how you were vanishing!" She put her hand to her head as she was feeling a headache suddenly coming on, "What are you doing to me?!" The reporter demanded as her vision blurred for a moment.

Koishi tilted her head and bent forwards a bit, "Oh, I'm making sure you remember what we did last time. If I'm going to give you an interview, I should make sure you remember what happened last time. There we go!" A few giggles from the satori as she stood up again.

The headache soon passed as Hatate. "You're Koishi Komeiji, sister of Satori Komeiji. You come topside to play around and look around for new food to try out," the tengu spoke before half jumping back in shock, "Wait how do I know this! You can't read minds, wait what? What did you do to me?"

An exasperated sigh from the black hat-wearing girl, "I told you that already! I made sure you remembered things! Most people forget about me because uh..." her hand moved to her chin as she tapped her foot, "What did sister say? Oh yea! I subconsciously make people subconsciously not notice me most of the time. It's complicated. I think Sanae said something about it but I didn't understand it. I don't know if it was even Japanese. But Interview time right?"

The sudden whirlwind of information had Hatate stumbling over her words as her head started to clear, "Uh... yes? I mean yes! Yes it is. So can I first ask you about what drew you to the surface to visit this festival?"

A broad smile was on Koishi's face as she eagerly explained everything hoping that at least this time Hatate would properly remember it.


End file.
